No. 18 Squadron RAF
| No. 18 Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 11 May 1915 -, |
| Role | Transportation Search and rescue |
| Garrison/HQ | RAF Odiham |
| Motto(s) | Animo et fide (With courage and faith) |
| Equipment | Chinook HC.2 |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
Pegasus rampant |
No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook. Owing to its heritage as a bomber squadron, it is also known as No. 18 (B) Squadron.
The squadron was formed on 11 May 1915 at Northolt as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It arrived in France on 19 November 1915, principally equipped with the Vickers FB5 'Gunbus', supplemented by a few Airco DH.2s and Bristol Scouts, and operating in the Army cooperation role. By April 1916 the squadron had re-equipped with FE2bs.Victor Huston became a flying ace piloting one of these. The squadron was heavily deployed during the Battle of the Somme, where it was attached to the Cavalry Corps and trained to assist it in the event on any breakthrough, but towards the end of the year and into early 1917, was increasingly deployed on night operations as its F.E.2bs became more vulnerable during daylight operations.
The squadron re-equipped with Airco DH.4s from June 1917, although operations continued with F.E.2 until at least August 1917 as its DH.4s were equipped with the unreliable RAF 3 engine. Once these reliability problems were solved, the squadron, began to specialise in long-range attacks, but this changed in March 1918 when the Germans launched Operation Michael, the opening move of their Spring Offensive. 18 Squadron was among many units deployed to stop the German attacks, resorting to low level attacks as well as more conventional medium level operations. As the Germans switched the focus of their operations northwards in the Battle of the Lys, the squadron was again heavily involved, and on 12 April, the squadron carried out six separate attacks in the vicinity of Merville, with 13 pilots flying between them 44 flying hours that day.George Darvill became an ace on DH.4s, scoring nine victories. In September 1918, the squadron began to re-equip with Airco DH.9As, this process continuing until November that year. By the end of the war, the squadron had claimed 200 air-to-air victories. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the fighting on the Western Front, 18 Squadron moved into Germany in support of the Occupation of the Rhineland in early 1919, carrying mail between the British Army of the Rhine and the United Kingdom. The squadron returned to Britain in September 1919 and disbanded at Weston-on-the-Green on 31 December 1919.
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